20 something in the city…

{A Labour graduate’s perception of the credit crunch.}

“THE RECESSION”
Am I the only one sick of hearing that word or what, I can believe how ridiculously out of control this whole economic crisis situation has become. I have decided to speak up as a 20 something year old graduate who feels as if her voice is one of the few 400,000 graduates that have emerged from the education system this previous year.
Having left university in Bournemouth I managed to find a job as a receptionist, but the living costs where too high and I decided to return home swiftly to London with my tail firmly tucked between my legs.

“HOME”
That word used to hold such warmth and inviting familiarity until you realise that your stuck there and can’t escape because the government cleverly managed to lull young college leavers into going to university, with a sense of security wrapped around them about stable well paying jobs after 4 years of slogging your guts out that could guarantee that you wouldn’t end up in that oh so familiar and warm place called home (or better known as your mum and dad’s house) when you had completed your education and were so ready to move into the next stage of your life as a young adult.(This would include, moving into your own space!)
Home was supposed to be a place to go to for Sunday dinners and for chats with mum/dad over a cup of coffee about how annoying your new boss is and whether or not you should paint your walls magnolia or burgundy red, now we’re stuck in this place and all that warmth has disappeared, that familiarity has become too familiar and there seems to be no more doors marked as exits.
OK I know that it may seem as if I’m dare I say it….ranting….but I honestly feel as if I have been betrayed by “The system”. New Labour encouraged my year group of college leavers to go to university, promised us that jobs would be waiting at the finish line, that dreams and goals were just within our reach, that we could be something in society, make a name for ourselves, stake our claim within our careers! NOT working in factories or cleaning offices or even sitting at home waiting for benefits to be deposited into our bank accounts while we scour the Internet for any kind of position available that the city slickers that have been made redundant (because of the stupid crunch) haven’t already scooped up.

“BARREL BOTTOM”
Scrapping the bottom of the employment barrel seems to be the only source of income that we graduates could hope to find, two words…HOW DEPRESSING! The word depressed seems to be the state of mind that most graduates I have been in contact with are in, most of my friends through the beauty of social networking (facebook) have exposed their current “state of mind” through their regularly updated statuses, which seem to be leaning swiftly towards the negative side rather than the upbeat optimistic statuses that facebook users one churned out. The kids are unhappy why can’t anyone take notice!!!
All the activities we used to revel in seem to have taken a downward spin, shopping, partying even the act of going to the cinema has become unaffordable. (The embarrassment of standing in a ticket line counting pennies for a very over priced and very underrated film seems to be a poignant image stuck in my head.) The fact that our student overdrafts now turned graduate accounts (much difference that makes since there is clearly no funds being deposited) seem to give no lee weigh to the aftermath of university and the likelihood of joblessness, we’re truly STUCK!

“PLAN OF ACTION”
So what’s the big plan of action? What’s the big revolt? What are we doing for ourselves to make this situation change or at least to have some kind of plans for our futures? What is the government doing to make this situation better? Is it enough?
I definitely think not! I also think that young graduates are probably sitting at home wallowing in self-pity rather than banding together and truly questioning the government’s methods. They promised us a future now its been snatched from us before we could even taste it. There wasn’t even any pre-warning so that at least students could begin to save or prepare for what was to come.
We will soon be welcoming a new set of graduates in 2009 plus the old ones of 2008 into a rolling on spiral of endless disappointment and bottom of the barrel jobs, what will be the plan then? I can personally only see two options, we all sit at home and collect benefits or we go out and make money in a way that is probably not so appealing to our nation. Neither of these options should be an option!
If something is not done eventually will we have a choice with the methods we chose to provide for ourselves? Has the government thought about that? They have worked so hard to prevent the rise of crime in Britain, especially when related to money issues, what a waste it would all have been if young people begin to resort to methods that put the nations welfare in jeopardy one again. (Do we ever learn!)

"FIND OUR FIGHT”
We need to find a light at the end of this dangerously dark tunnel; we need to find our voices and make sure their heard. Since the 1960’s young people have always been known to fight for their rights just look back at our parents in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s all the movements they carried out to make their voices heard. I f they can do it, what’s stopping our generation, WE are the future and that knowledge is power if we use it well, but if we discard it and choose to wait for the recession to be over (God only knows when at this rate) then we are truly GIVING UP.